In Sunday’s (6/2) San Diego Union-Tribune, Sandra Dibble reports on a “Very Special Evening with Condoleezza Rice,” a benefit event on Friday that raised more than $100,000 for string instrument programs, “especially those targeting at-risk youth … Most of the money will go to the Classics for Kids Foundation, a national nonprofit based in Boston and co-founded by Rice, a classically trained pianist. The San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory is slated to receive 20 percent of the proceeds.” Dibble notes that while the presence of former Secretary of State Rice, who collaborated with the Muir String Quartet in Dvořák’s Piano Quintet, “may have been the evening’s main attraction, the participation of a string quintet of fifth-graders from the Chula Vista Elementary School District served to underscore the purpose of the event, held at the estate of Susan and Bill Hoehn.” Also featured was violinist Jasmine Wang, a Westview High School student who plays with the San Diego Youth Symphony. That orchestra’s “outreach to students whose parents cannot afford private lessons meshes with the aim of Classics for Kids. Joining forces for the fundraiser seemed natural, said Dalouge Smith, the symphony’s president. ‘The way we approach our work is very similar,’ he said. ‘All kids should have access to music.’ ”
Posted June 3, 2013
Condoleezza Rice photo: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
